The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is a Washington, D.C.-based public interest law firm protecting the free expression of all religious traditions. We are nonprofit, nonpartisan, and interfaith. The Becket Fund operates in three arenas: the courts of law (litigation), the court of public opinion (media), and in the academy (scholarship), at home and abroad (international) … (about 1/2).

Freedom of religion is a basic human right that no government may lawfully deny; it is not a gift of the state, but instead is rooted in the inherent dignity of the human person. Religious expression (of all traditions) is a natural part of life in a free society, and religious arguments (on all sides of a question) are a normal and healthy element of public debate. Religious people and institutions are entitled to participate in public life on an equal basis with everyone else, and should not be excluded for professing their faith.

Who Is Becket?

The Becket Fund is named after Thomas à Becket (1118-70 AD), who stood resolutely at the intersection of Church and State. As a friend of King Henry II, Becket served as Chancellor of England and oversaw the laws of the kingdom. But as Archbishop of Canterbury, he steadfastly refused to allow the King to interfere in the affairs of the Church, and was martyred by the King’s knights for defending the principle of religious liberty.

To mark our tenth anniversary, we commissioned a painting of Becket’s martyrdom, an electronic image of which is posted on the right.

To learn more about the life of Becket, we recommend “Becket & Henry: The Becket Lectures,” by James J. Spigelman, foreword by George Cardinal Pell. We also recommend the 1964 Peter Glenville film Becket starring Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole.